1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:05,360
Speaker 1: The situation in Ukraine is grim. Eight percent more than

2
00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:08,639
Speaker 1: eighty percent of Kiev. There's no running water right now.

3
00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:13,640
Speaker 1: Three and fifty thousand apartments lost power according to the mayor.

4
00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:19,640
Speaker 1: Still no water supply about at this point, for instance,

5
00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:24,640
Speaker 1: Russian missiles and drones damaging infrastructure in ten regions of Ukraine,

6
00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:28,680
Speaker 1: hundreds of locations without power, and we're watching the capital

7
00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:33,960
Speaker 1: of Kiev just bathed in darkness. It's a very eerie

8
00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:38,080
Speaker 1: thing to consider here. In some US military personnel apparently

9
00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:40,240
Speaker 1: now operating inside Ukraine. We're gonna get to that in

10
00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,080
Speaker 1: a moment. Ned Price, spokesman for the State Department, says,

11
00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,680
Speaker 1: Vladimir Putin continues to target civilians. We've all seen a

12
00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:51,839
Speaker 1: number of UH strikes and bombardments that appear to be

13
00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:56,960
Speaker 1: nothing more than an effort to brutalize the people of Ukraine.

14
00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,480
Speaker 1: And as we discussed on this program, there's gonna be

15
00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,480
Speaker 1: some change is coming, most likely in the form of

16
00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:05,200
Speaker 1: the House leadership. If Kevin McCarthy gets his way and

17
00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:08,400
Speaker 1: in fact become speaker. He says, no more blank checks.

18
00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,400
Speaker 1: And we've heard questions from progressives on the left as

19
00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,280
Speaker 1: well about how much we should be spending. Although this

20
00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:17,920
Speaker 1: infamous letter was withdrawn, this is going to be a

21
00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,399
Speaker 1: concerted debate as we move beyond the mid terms and

22
00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,080
Speaker 1: towards the election. That's why I remember we talked to

23
00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,520
Speaker 1: Mark Hamill and now look at this. He doesn't just

24
00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,960
Speaker 1: play one. He is an astronaut. Scott Kelly, former NASA astronaut,

25
00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:34,520
Speaker 1: retired U. S. Navy captain, is now one of the

26
00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:39,360
Speaker 1: newest ambassadors to United This is the fundraising platform put

27
00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:44,679
Speaker 1: forth by President Vladimir Zelenski. Kathain Kelly, it's great to

28
00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:46,840
Speaker 1: have you with us here on Bloomberg. I appreciate the

29
00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:49,640
Speaker 1: time today very much. What did President Zelenski tell you

30
00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,720
Speaker 1: when you spoke with him, Well, the first thing he

31
00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,440
Speaker 1: just said is, you know, officially asked me if I

32
00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,440
Speaker 1: would be part of this fundraising platform, and of course,

33
00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:03,800
Speaker 1: you know, I agreed. I'm a big supporter of Ukraine.

34
00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:09,720
Speaker 1: I have Ukrainian family members, Ukrainian friends, and uh, you know,

35
00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:12,720
Speaker 1: all of those people are suffering in different ways, and

36
00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,360
Speaker 1: I think we we all need to do whatever we

37
00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,440
Speaker 1: can to support Ukraine because I think in the end,

38
00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:23,560
Speaker 1: we're really just supporting democracy and and freedom. Even though

39
00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:27,320
Speaker 1: you know this is a war currently in Europe. It

40
00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,440
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that it's going to get get better if we,

41
00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:33,600
Speaker 1: uh don't do whatever we can to help. So how

42
00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,680
Speaker 1: do you get the word out beyond conversations like this one? Captain?

43
00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,639
Speaker 1: How do you help President Zelinski raise the cash and

44
00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,840
Speaker 1: get the hardware needs? Yeah? Well, I think, you know,

45
00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:45,720
Speaker 1: certainly social media is important, but also you know, normal

46
00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,480
Speaker 1: regular media like this and and just people you know,

47
00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:53,440
Speaker 1: passing the word that this is a really important cause.

48
00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:58,520
Speaker 1: My my area that I'm working on is his medical supplies,

49
00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:03,280
Speaker 1: particularly ambulances. The Russians destroy you know, ten a week

50
00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,359
Speaker 1: or they steal them. So um, you know now, like

51
00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,919
Speaker 1: you just mentioned, you know, they're not only because they're

52
00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:16,000
Speaker 1: losing on the battlefield, they're now taking revenge on innocent civilians,

53
00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:21,080
Speaker 1: including on their medical infrastructure. Well this is this is fantastic.

54
00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,400
Speaker 1: And are you're you're raising money specifically for ambulances? Is

55
00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:27,360
Speaker 1: it like the drone program where there they would actually

56
00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,360
Speaker 1: accept donations of ambulances themselves or are European nations helping

57
00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,200
Speaker 1: on that front too? You know, I think that you know,

58
00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,520
Speaker 1: people have reached out to me with saying that, hey,

59
00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:41,240
Speaker 1: I have an ambulance don um. So I need to

60
00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:45,640
Speaker 1: figure that out some more whether that's viable, but currently

61
00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:50,440
Speaker 1: is it's to raise money to purchase ambulance that will

62
00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:54,160
Speaker 1: be then used in Ukraine. Are you worried about funding

63
00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:59,400
Speaker 1: here in the US drying up because of politics? Funding

64
00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,520
Speaker 1: for what? For Ukraine? You know? This was this has

65
00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:04,720
Speaker 1: been essentially a blank check, if I can use that term.

66
00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:06,440
Speaker 1: And it looks like it's gonna be a harder case

67
00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,720
Speaker 1: to make for the president. Yeah, I mean it's uh,

68
00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:12,960
Speaker 1: you know, certainly, I think anywhere we spend our money

69
00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:17,120
Speaker 1: uh is uh, you know, needs to be scrutinized, especially

70
00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:19,600
Speaker 1: when it's this amount. But I think if you look

71
00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,839
Speaker 1: at the facts here that this is a worthy cause,

72
00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,560
Speaker 1: and you know, I feel like we need to be

73
00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,080
Speaker 1: putting in whatever we can within our means, of course,

74
00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,599
Speaker 1: but within our whatever we can to defeat Russia because

75
00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:36,000
Speaker 1: I do think this is an existential threat to the

76
00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:38,440
Speaker 1: you know, the rest of the free world. Well, Captain,

77
00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,920
Speaker 1: you must feel pulled in two different directions here. Obviously,

78
00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:45,480
Speaker 1: as a as a retired Navy captain, a former fighter pilot,

79
00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,760
Speaker 1: you've got a certain feeling about this as well. But

80
00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:52,800
Speaker 1: you are a NASA astronaut who's shared space with Russian cosmonauts.

81
00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:55,960
Speaker 1: And I wonder how you rationalize that as we try

82
00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:57,880
Speaker 1: to figure out our future in space. That's a whole

83
00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,440
Speaker 1: different idea here, divorcing Russia and our project for the

84
00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,680
Speaker 1: International Space Station. Do you feel like your hand is

85
00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,160
Speaker 1: being forced in that direction? You know, it's a it's

86
00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,960
Speaker 1: a tough question whether you know Russia should stay a

87
00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,279
Speaker 1: part of the International Space Station program. I, you know,

88
00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,680
Speaker 1: it's really complicated for them to leave. Having said that,

89
00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:20,479
Speaker 1: I think we're at the point where we might just

90
00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:24,360
Speaker 1: show them the door. Obviously, that's my personal opinion. It's

91
00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:28,280
Speaker 1: not anything I've gotten officially from NASA or anywhere anyone else.

92
00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:33,120
Speaker 1: I would say that for future programs, you know, without

93
00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,200
Speaker 1: a change of you know, leadership in Russia, Um, that

94
00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,680
Speaker 1: is more in line with you know, Western values on

95
00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,240
Speaker 1: you know, freedom and democracy. I don't see them participating

96
00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,760
Speaker 1: in any anything ever again with with us. And you've

97
00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:51,960
Speaker 1: had wonderful working relationships with Russians in the space program,

98
00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,120
Speaker 1: haven't you. Yeah, I have some you know, some great

99
00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,080
Speaker 1: Russian friends in the space program. Some are Cosmos, some

100
00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:02,320
Speaker 1: are you know, engineers, administrative personnel that I know. I mean,

101
00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,000
Speaker 1: I know a lot of Russian people, and a lot

102
00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:09,000
Speaker 1: of them are you know, exactly in line with my

103
00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,919
Speaker 1: thinking and I think most free people's thinking on this,

104
00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:16,240
Speaker 1: and then there are some others that it's just shocking,

105
00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,160
Speaker 1: how you know, the Russian propaganda that they've been exposed

106
00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,160
Speaker 1: to for you know, decades as just you know, altered

107
00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:28,560
Speaker 1: their ability to to you know, think rationally on this idea.

108
00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:31,240
Speaker 1: I mean, had one Cosmo tell me that, you know,

109
00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:35,440
Speaker 1: he is absolutely convinced that the Nazis and NATO we're

110
00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:39,160
Speaker 1: going to are were imminently going to invade Russia and

111
00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:41,599
Speaker 1: this is the only way they could defend themselves, which

112
00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:48,359
Speaker 1: is absolutely absurd. Pretty smart, yeah, right, supposed to be.

113
00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:53,120
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just pretty amazing to think about five

114
00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:58,200
Speaker 1: th dollars Captain Kelly you raised by launching an n

115
00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,320
Speaker 1: f T to support you. Craz You've been at this

116
00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,600
Speaker 1: for a while. Yeah, I've been at this from from

117
00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:06,880
Speaker 1: the very beginning. And like I said, you know, I

118
00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,320
Speaker 1: have a niece and nephew that are Ukrainian Americans. Their

119
00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:14,120
Speaker 1: dad and my brother in law was an archieve you

120
00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,520
Speaker 1: know a place that is currently you know, you know,

121
00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:23,120
Speaker 1: really a focal point of this war right now. And yeah,

122
00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:24,880
Speaker 1: so this is an issue that I took to heart

123
00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,440
Speaker 1: right away. I saw it, as you know, with Russia

124
00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:33,200
Speaker 1: starting a war in Europe unprovoked, that this was an

125
00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:38,000
Speaker 1: issue that we should all get get behind helping Ukraine.

126
00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,280
Speaker 1: And I had platform to do it because I had,

127
00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:44,040
Speaker 1: you know, between you know, Twitter followers and and exposure

128
00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:48,240
Speaker 1: in in Russia and uh and and and in Ukraine

129
00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,480
Speaker 1: a little bit my you know, I wrote a book

130
00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,040
Speaker 1: that was translated into Russian, so I'm somewhat of a

131
00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,280
Speaker 1: known figure there and I have the ability to tweet

132
00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,840
Speaker 1: in Russian at the Russian people and try to show

133
00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:02,760
Speaker 1: the am what the reality of this is. So I

134
00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:05,000
Speaker 1: I took it. I've taken it very seriously from the big,

135
00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,640
Speaker 1: very beginning. But you've actually you've been a notorious troll

136
00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,080
Speaker 1: on social media for some Russians, you kind of spooked

137
00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,480
Speaker 1: off the platform. Yeah. I don't know if I call

138
00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:20,040
Speaker 1: it a troll. Well, you know, maybe the noun version

139
00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,840
Speaker 1: is that the trolling, captain is what I want to say,

140
00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:25,600
Speaker 1: you know, my first trolling ever, if that's what you

141
00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,000
Speaker 1: want to call, maybe maybe referred to it as like

142
00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:33,440
Speaker 1: social media warrior. I like that it's consistent, consistent with

143
00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,760
Speaker 1: your resume. Who are you spooking off of Twitter? Next?

144
00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:42,720
Speaker 1: M Oh, I'm not targeting anyone in the specific The reason, I,

145
00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,000
Speaker 1: you know, went after the head of risk Cosmos, the

146
00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:49,840
Speaker 1: Russian space agencies because he threatened to leave an American

147
00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:52,960
Speaker 1: crew member behind that he was responsible for, and I

148
00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:55,400
Speaker 1: was just absolutely shocked. So you know, I went at

149
00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:59,320
Speaker 1: him in his own language, in ways that he could

150
00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,840
Speaker 1: you know, ways that he can understand um, with language

151
00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,880
Speaker 1: that would get his attention, and I think it may

152
00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:11,160
Speaker 1: have worked. It appears to have you talked to your

153
00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,280
Speaker 1: brother about this when it comes to war funding obviously

154
00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:20,080
Speaker 1: the senator from Arizona, you both have a platform, Captain Kelly, Yeah,

155
00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:24,920
Speaker 1: you know, I have not talked to him specifically about

156
00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:31,640
Speaker 1: like you know, government policy or legislation, legislation. I mean,

157
00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:34,920
Speaker 1: I think he's certainly aware of of my stance, and

158
00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:37,240
Speaker 1: I understand that he's a you know, a big supporter

159
00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:42,240
Speaker 1: of freedom and democracy and supports Ukraine. So yeah, but

160
00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:44,920
Speaker 1: I haven't gotten into any specifics like you know, hey,

161
00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,040
Speaker 1: you should vote for this or that. Hey probably listen

162
00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:49,080
Speaker 1: to me anyway. Yeah, I'm not so sure about that.

163
00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,200
Speaker 1: I think you have a few things in common, uh,

164
00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:55,280
Speaker 1: including your biology. But look, in terms of President Zelenski,

165
00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,600
Speaker 1: he's been asking Washington to help close the skies. That

166
00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,400
Speaker 1: that was the refrain when he had rest uh the

167
00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:03,640
Speaker 1: Joint Session of Congress. There was a time when he

168
00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:06,040
Speaker 1: was begging for fighter jets. You're a former fighter pilot.

169
00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:10,760
Speaker 1: Would they actually make a difference? Well, that's a good

170
00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:14,480
Speaker 1: that's a good question, you know because right now, and

171
00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:17,840
Speaker 1: it's my understanding that Russia does not control the skies

172
00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,360
Speaker 1: of Ukraine. So you know, on one hand, I think

173
00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:22,080
Speaker 1: it would it would be helpful and make a difference.

174
00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:24,679
Speaker 1: I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make.

175
00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:29,800
Speaker 1: Having said that, I think, you know, anti missile systems

176
00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,880
Speaker 1: would be really helpful because they're getting you know, having

177
00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:36,840
Speaker 1: you know, cruise missiles and other you know, things that

178
00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:41,920
Speaker 1: you know that could be countered with, uh, you know,

179
00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,040
Speaker 1: some existing systems out there. So whether you know airplanes

180
00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:49,960
Speaker 1: are really required and how you know, giving Ukraine a

181
00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,800
Speaker 1: bunch of F sixteens or something. But would that be helpful? Sure,

182
00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:54,720
Speaker 1: I think it would be helpful. Would it make a

183
00:10:54,800 --> 00:11:01,040
Speaker 1: huge difference, I'm not probably, Um, I probably don't know

184
00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:05,319
Speaker 1: the details there with the air war enough to really

185
00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:07,680
Speaker 1: really comment on that. Well, everybody likes to talk like

186
00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:09,520
Speaker 1: an expert, and you actually are one, though it sounds

187
00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:11,320
Speaker 1: like it's more complicated than a lot of people are

188
00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,280
Speaker 1: making it out to be. Yeah, I think just given

189
00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,760
Speaker 1: giving a country a bunch of airplanes when the you know,

190
00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,560
Speaker 1: when the airspace is not dominated by Russia right now,

191
00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:24,760
Speaker 1: is I think something that really has to be studied

192
00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:30,520
Speaker 1: and what it does to escalate the situation or not. Well,

193
00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:32,360
Speaker 1: I want to congratulate you and thank you for the

194
00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,000
Speaker 1: work that you're doing in the service that you've provided

195
00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,000
Speaker 1: not only our count for you, but now that the

196
00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,040
Speaker 1: people of Ukraine. It's admirable and the Captain, we thank

197
00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:44,960
Speaker 1: you for being here on Bloomberg appreciate by all means.

198
00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:49,960
Speaker 1: Flew over eight thousand hours in more than forty aircraft

199
00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:54,280
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty carrier landings in his naval career.

200
00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:56,120
Speaker 1: I know people refer to him as an astronaut. He

201
00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,920
Speaker 1: spent more time in space than Luke Skywalker. This guy's

202
00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,520
Speaker 1: a tom Cat pilet. Anybody who puts an airplane down

203
00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:06,199
Speaker 1: on the deck of an aircraft carrier in the rain

204
00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,199
Speaker 1: at night has my respect. By the way, no one

205
00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:11,800
Speaker 1: who flew enough fourteen should ever be called to troll